Set Piece, Mission of Joy Capture G3s on Churchill Turf
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Photo: Coady Photography
Set Piece rallies to capture the Arlington Stakes at Churchill Downs
At the ripe old age of 7, Juddmonte's homebred Set Piece showed no signs of slowing down in securing his seventh domestic stakes win with a rousing last-to-first run in the $206,750 Arlington Stakes (G3T) June 3 at Churchill Downs.
Returning to the scene of one his finer victories in the 2021 Wise Dan Stakes (G2T) in the 1 1/16 mile Arlington, Set Piece took up his typical placement at the back of the pack on turf while 15-1 shot Get Smokin led the merry chase through fractions of :24.16, :48.96, and 1:13.31.
Racing comfortably in the clear down the backstretch, jockey Florent Geroux nudged Set Piece into contention and the Dansili gelding began winding up for his late assault around the final turn. With Get Smokin shaking off his initial challengers with a quarter-mile to go, it was up to Set Piece to deny the pacesetter from a gate-to-wire victory. Roaring home down the center of the track, Set Piece charged by Get Smokin in the final yards and struck the wire a length in front in a final time of 1:42.42 over a firm turf course.
The Brad Cox trainee returned $3.52 as the betting favorite. Longshot Harlan Estate rallied for third behind runner-up Get Smokin.
The Aug. 12 Arlington Million (G1T), a race in which he finished in fourth last year at Churchill Downs, will likely be the next target for Set Piece. The race is at Colonial Downs this year following the 2021 closure of Arlington International Racecourse.
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"He's such a lovely horse. He's come over here (from England) he's been an honest, sound horse who absolutely loves what he does," Juddmonte farm manager Garrett O'Rourke said of Set Piece. "We brought him back to the farm to give him a rest and he wasn't settled at the farm he just loves going to work every day.
"He'll always have a home at Juddmonte for the rest of his life when he's ready for that but he doesn't seem to be ready yet."
Video: Arlington S. (G3T)
Mission of Joy Adds to Resume With Regret Tally
After a troubled trip in the Edgewood Stakes (G2T) on Kentucky Oaks Day brought an end to Mission of Joy 's three-race win streak, the daughter of Kitten's Joy rebounded with a career-best effort to take the $205,000 Regret Stakes (G3T) Saturday at Churchill downs.
Mission of Joy wins the Regret Stakes at Churchill Downs
In third early, jockey Tyler Gaffalione bided his time with the big chestnut and struck when the moment was right, blasting through an opening between rivals in midstretch for a 1 1/2-length victory.
Campaigned by RyZan Sun Racing and Madaket Stables, Mission of Joy ($3.46) raced the 1 1/8 miles on firm turf in 1:49.05. The Mark Casse-trained Papillo, blocked behind foes at the top of the lane, was second, four lengths clear of Mrs. Astor in third.
"Tyler (Gaffalione) got her into a beautiful position and she really impressed me," trainer Graham Motion said of Mission of Joy. "She's a Canadian-bred so we'd obviously look at some of those races but also some of the longer turf races in New York this summer. She handled the mile-and-an-eighth today and proved it wouldn't be an issue moving forward."